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It's Fun to Play the Piano ... Please Pass It On!

Anyone who has read some of my recent posts will know i have gone through the process of purchasing a kawai ca95, having issues with scratches on the keys, followed by the replacement also having some issues that has lead to me being offered a very good price on a kawai k3 Acoustic.

The condition for my discount was that i went to sample a range of k3 models at the milton keynes main office to pick my favorite...

Soooo....

I took today off work and travelled the 4 hours to meet joe from kawai to try out the trio of k3's waiting for me....

After coffee and a little over an hour we agreed on one of the three to be my chosen baby.... Happy Days!

All three were similar in touch, slightly lighter than my tutors yamaha baby grand....

Sound wise i couldnt really play well enough to make any firm opinions but had already earmarked two out of the three for sounding somewhat richer (not brighter) than the other.

At this point joe came back with coffee and i asked him to run through all three with similar trials. He ran through chromatic scales and some minutes of playing on each.

There was some colour change (if that makes sense!) On one of the pianos, and he did another round of playing and gave the opinion one stood out as his Favourite... this narrowed it down as the other of the two i preferred had the tonal colour change...

After joe focusing on the one piano and running through some pieces he remarked he felt the decay was nice and smooth and really felt the midrange sung out.... sure sounded great to me!

We pulled the casing off.... discussed tuning, the benefits of a good technician(not every tuner has the skills) and a recommendation of a local tech for future reference...

After about an hour i left with my choice made, happy and full of thanks for the service i recieved from joe. All thats left now is for the piano to be brought over and the swop to take place...

In three weeks or so i will be taking the next step on my pianistic journey....

My ca95 has played its last key tonight... probably a silly idea to spend three hours with it as my back isnt too happy... however its been a lovely experience... all ready for the delivery of my k3 tomorrow...

Haha, to be honest mate, i havent been this excited since waiting for santa as a kid! :-) already told the boss i'll be leaving early tomorrow.... and got some friends coming round saturday for beers, snooker and admiration of my new baby... good times ahead! I'll post the obligatory piano porn pics when shes in..... guess i should start the thought process of naming her.... :-) .

Had a fiddle for half an hour and suprised the missus by coming back to spend tue evening with her.... after three hours last night my back is not too clever... plus she'll appreciate me choosing her over the piano on delivery day.... i'm smart... playing the long game! :-)

Been living with digitals for years and after it being transported half way round the country i can definately hear the tuning being off somewhat... but have been given a tuning contact who is highly recommended by a dip teacher i know so will wait a month and get my girl all tuned up.... unless the shop are throwing in a tuning but will enquire about that tomorrow...

The touch is fantastic. Slightly more firm than the ca95 which is good.... less than my tutors yamaha grand... smooth as butter and instantly gelled with it..... i cannot express how i connected with the touch positively enough.... so happy.

Once the tuning is settled i will no doubt be attempting some recordings of my progress.... one very happy adult beginner on the right path to satisfying pianistic pleasure!

Nice one! My experience of the action is the same as yours. Any thoughts of the upright action being theoretically inferior are put aside immediately. I'm very satisfied with the feel of my K3. My first tuning is on 4th December and that day can't come soon enough!

Best of luck with your new beauty. Play it a good bit and get to know it, so you can address any slight regulation/buzz/noise issues the first time you have a technician work on it.

But maintenance aside, you've got a beautiful piano with a 21st century action and I think it will be worth every penny. I have a Kawai UST-7, from 1989 only 46 1/2 " tall with the older ABS action, but a real piano is a real piano. I love my digital piano too, but playing the acoustic is well, the real thing.

I agree with having the best of both worlds... my digital is now with my daughter unfortunately..

The practice pedal on the k3 reduces the sound down to a whisper however the action seems so smooth i feel inclined to work on controlling the volume without the practice pedal . Will need to improve my control !:-)

Tuning to be boojed in six wee:-) ks with the shop.... now i just enjoy learning and playing...